Spawn of Joker
by Terra151
Summary: Mina wants a real family, & after meeting Harley Quinn who desires a family of her own she thinks this may be perfect, but after witnessing the cruelties of the Joker she wonders if she's safe. Based on the film, Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker.
1. Beginnings

Mina sighed as she pulled off her shirt and slipped on her tube-top. She could hear her grandmother mutter under her breathe about her 'no good, ungrateful daughter' as she washed the dishes, and frankly Mina dint blame her. After a ugly divorce, her parents had dumped her onto her grandmother despite her protests.

She slipped on her skinny jeans and finished applying lipstick. This was her routine. Go to school, come home, eat dinner with Gram, and then sneak out at 7:00 to the club. She pulled on her heels and grabbed her purse. She checked her appearance and decided she looked cheap. But she defended herself deciding it was because she wanted to be an adult and climbed out the window.

She walked down the road to the club she went to called 'Poison'. It was a popular place, but its name was what had attracted her. It sounded like somewhere you'd find the bad crowd hanging around, she'd been right. She ordered a drink and smiled when the bartender didn't I.D. her.

She shook her hips gently to the loud beat of the music and was surprised when she flet someone grab her behind. She spun to face the drunken offender and promptly shoved him away from her,

"Back off, loser." She said angrily.

"Come on, baby. Give me a chance, I think you'll like what you find." He said pulling her up against him.

"Stop it!" She shouted lodging her heel into his foot.

"Ow!" He yelped pulling back, "You little-!" He shouted, pulling back for a slap.

Mina flinched but was surprised when another heeled boot went into the man's stomach and sent him sprawling to the floor. She blinked and looked up to see a beautiful blonde with an irritated yet confident look on her face,

"Hey, creep. She said no." The blonde said.

Mina was completely stunned but the blonde just smiled at her and asked, "You ok?"

"Ya, fine." Mina answered shakily.

"Hey, no brawling in here!" The bartender said angrily.

"Let's go, Harl." A gorgeous redheaded woman said linking arms with the blonde.

Mina watched as she exited with the red head and couldn't help but follow. She headed out the door and Mina called out to them,

"Hey, wait!" They stopped and turned to face her, "Thanks, for the help."

"Not a problem, sweetheart." The blonde said with a smile, "What's your name?"

"Mina." She answered,

"Well, Mina I'm Harley. I'll see around, ok?"

"Ok…" Mina said watching them go. She watched as they drove off and Mina felt a connection somehow. She sighed and decided that she really wanted to see Harley again.

* * *

Mina awoke the next morning and after suffering from a hideous headache decided she would not be going to school. When her grandmother asked she merely told her that she felt sick.

She sighed as she let her head fall back onto the pillow. She had a killer hangover. Headache, nausea, sensitive eyes…the whole bit. She flicked on the TV in her room and saw the Joker had managed to make the top story of the news again.

Apparently in his recent heist he had gotten in a fight with Batman which had left downtown Gotham in shambles. She would never understand some people, who wants to be a hero? No one really noticed at the end of the day, so why bother? She shook her head and switched the TV back off.

She jumped when she heard a knock on her door. Her grandmother poked her head inside and said,

"Mina, some boy's here to see you."

"Oh, thanks Gram." She said.

She quickly set about making herself look decent, wondering who could possibly be at her house. She walked out into the living room and saw a boy, a little younger then herself sitting on her couch. When he saw her he quickly stood,

"Mina?" He asked.

"Ya," She answered.

"Hi, I'm Tim Drake. I have the same class as you and our teacher wanted me to give you today's homework since I live close by."

"Oh, thank you." She said taking the packet out of his hand. "How was it today?" She asked.

"Oh, nothing too hard. The other's missed you." He said and Mina sincerely doubted this, "But if you don't mind my asking, why weren't you at school today?"

"Well, to be honest I had a bit of a hangover." She said smiling, but she was surprised when he didn't smile but instead looked very sad,

"Oh…sorry to hear that." He said looking away.

Mina felt her heart sink. Never before had she felt remorse over something she'd done, but now this boy who didn't even reproach her managed to make her feel shame.

"Well, thanks for bringing me my homework." She said.

"You're welcome." He said. Mina walked him to the door and she watched him walk home. As he went she had a feeling that she would not only be watching out the for the blonde, but she'd be looking for him too.


	2. Batman?

Mina heard him before she saw him. She continued her knitting as if he didn't affect her, she merely glanced over to the corner where she could hear him taking steps toward her and cocked an eyebrow. This seemed to be enough for him because the young Batman turned off his invisibility feature on the bat-suit and continued toward her. She remained seated and said calmly,

"You know, most people get a warrant before searching for evidence, otherwise its breaking and entering. Besides, you could have just knocked, I would've let you in..."

He looked a bit taken aback by her response. But continued on with business, no time for apologies.

"I'm assuming you know why I'm here."

"Right, Joker's back and you're following up on any living connections to him. You saw Tim, then?"

"Yes, I did." He said simply. "So what do you know about Joker's return?"

She snorted outright.

"Nothing. That's what I know. I've been rotting alone in this house for 40 years, just grateful they didn't send me to Arkham...next thing I know, I turn on the television and see that the Joker's back from the dead. I don't know anything about it, despite my connections."

He glanced at her skeptically,

"He never had any plans that would match up with his comeback?"

She stopped knitting and stared at him, he remained standing, staring down at her with crossed arms. Maintaining the physical superiority over her, clearly a Bruce move. She wondered if he was listening to this conversation...

"I don't know anything about his return, and frankly I don't care."

"That's a lie." He said quietly, "It took years of therapy to end your obsession with him..."

She glared at him,

"Privacy laws my ass..." She muttered, "Look kid, I'm 60 years old, too old to be doing this anymore."

He grew quiet for a moment,

"You know, you're one of the only people who understood Joker. Not his feelings, but his actions, his plans, his motives."

"You're too kind..." She said, sarcasm dripping, "What does that matter to you?"

"Do you want to clear your name, finally rid yourself of Joker's reputation?" She gave him a cautious glance, she was listening at least, "Then help me find him."

She laughed then,

"How?"

"You know what kind of places he hides out in, what kind of plans he usually schemes, the people he's associated with."

"That was 40 years ago."

"You can still be helpful to us, and as much as I hate to admit it, I could use the help right now..."

Mina looked up at the young man in a mask. His eyes revealed how brutally honest he was being with her. She looked back at her knitting and sighed.

"So I'd be working with you or Bruce?"

"It'd be a collaboration." The batman answered, "And we'd have Commissioner Gordan working with you too."

"To keep Bruce off of my tail-coat." Mina answered quietly,

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

Mina was quiet for a moment, her older eyes vacant as she lost herself in thought. She let out a deep breath before looking back up at the new batman.

"I'm in."


	3. Abducted

Mina was sent to school the next day, no ditching for her. She turned in her assignments like she was supposed to, but couldn't think why. She made it through the day without much issue but my calculus she stopped at the door.

Tim Drake.

He hadn't been kidding when he said that he was in her class, she'd just somehow never noticed. She took her usual spot and ignored him, even though she felt his eyes on her back, wanting to ask her how she was feeling.

He wasn't much younger than her, a freshman taking calculus, it proved just how smart he was. She was a senior and she still had a hard time wrapping her brain around it, even at the last semester. He was a little shorter than her, and had a thin frame. But he was cheerful and polite so Mina couldn't fault him.

Mina made her way home, not the least bit fulfilled. She had so much longing in her life. She had no motivation, nothing had meaning. She picked up the newspaper that her grandma had left on the table. The Joker was rampant as usual, he'd made the front page again. She sighed, the smile on his face seemed genuine. She could never imagine a motivation to do what he did, but he seemed happy with his lifestyle…

She put the paper back down on the table and sighed. It had been months since she'd last seen Harley. She secretly hoped to see her, but had no way to contact her. No matter how many times she'd go the club, Harley was nowhere to be found.

She sighed and decided to go the bank and withdraw some money from her grandmother's account, that way she could get some drink that night when she left for the club. She entered Gotham Bank aimlessly, lost in her own thoughts. Even when she made the withdraw and asked for ID, to prove she was included in the account, it was as if she was in a haze.

CRASH!

Mina spun around to see a car had smashed through the glass of the bank and now rested in the lobby. The alarm whined loudly throughout the building, so loud it made some cover their ears. People began screaming immediately and Mina quickly realized why.

It was the Joker gang…

The goons went about waving rifles and ordering everyone to the floor. Mina obeyed as did everyone else, staring wide-eyed at the criminals. She realized that the Joker was not among the party. It was just his counterparts.

"All right boys," Joker's girl, Harley Quinn stated to the goons, "You know how we run things, and as Mr. J says, 'Service with a SMILE'!"

The men all laughed and began looting the bank. Mina blinked in surprise. She'd heard that voice before. Where? Where had she heard it… she stared at Harley Quinn in wonder. How did she know her?

Then it dawned on her,

"Harley?" She gasped out.

Harley Quinn turned to stare at her for a long moment, her face expressionless. Then her eyes suddenly focused in recognition. She quickly marched over to Mina and dragged her to her feet by her arm. She pulled out a knife and pressed it to Mina's throat.

Mina froze in terror, would she really kill her?

"Alright, no one try to follow us, or we kill the girl." A goon said to the frightened consumers, showing his agreement with Harley's actions.

"Rightarooni!" Harley nodded at him and backed Mina into the car, waiting for the men to join them in the vehicle. They finished robbing the bank and sped away.

Just before Batman could come and save her…


End file.
